Topping, FIMing, LST, etc.

[drew225]

Ok everyone don't kill me for posting this. Im sure its been discussed and posted 1000 times. I did do some research and checked the stickies, but instead of clogging those up I wanted to ask a few questions. When is it good to perform these procdures, (LST, Topping, FIM, Scrogg, etc.) and what are the benefits? To give you some info. I currently am growing 1 Auto Northern Lights, 1 Amnesia haze Clone, 1 Carmelicious clone, and 4 white widows. Im using fox farm soil for all plants and they are currently in the 1 gal grow bags. I will be transferring all the plants into a flower tent under my 1000w HPS once my current crop is harvested in about a week. I plant on keeping the Auto NL in my closet under 2 LED lights.

So my question is, should I try some of these methods, and if so which would be beneficial for me. I heard some can increase yield, save space, etc.

I've checked the how-to's on how to top and fim so im pretty confident I could do that, but im not sure what the point is behind LST and scrogg.

Thanks everyone.

[XXXJAYXXX]

I HIGHLY recommend LST! I start bending my plants as soon as they are tall enough to do so (maybe 5-6 inches). If you let them veg for a week or so and keep bending the top down.. all the side branches turn and point straight up towards the lights... so.. instead of having one top on each plant and a few little side branches.. you get 7 or 8 tops per plant! This can let you keep your plant count down and helps control height (if needed) Most lights dont penetrate more than 16-18 inches into the canopy anyways.. so letting them grow super tall is pointless unless you have your plants really widely spaced and well lit. Here is a pic of a plant grown with LST.. dried weight was just under 3 ounces.. and the plant was only 16 inches tall! The second pic shows the bent main stem and the side branches shooting upwards... HIGHLY recommend this technique!!!

[drew225]

I HIGHLY recommend LST! I start bending my plants as soon as they are tall enough to do so (maybe 5-6 inches). If you let them veg for a week or so and keep bending the top down.. all the side branches turn and point straight up towards the lights... so.. instead of having one top on each plant and a few little side branches.. you get 7 or 8 tops per plant! This can let you keep your plant count down and helps control height (if needed) Most lights dont penetrate more than 16-18 inches into the canopy anyways.. so letting them grow super tall is pointless unless you have your plants really widely spaced and well lit. Here is a pic of a plant grown with LST.. dried weight was just under 3 ounces.. and the plant was only 16 inches tall! The second pic shows the bent main stem and the side branches shooting upwards... HIGHLY recommend this technique!!!

So instead of 1 main kola you get several?

[XXXJAYXXX]

Exactly! Take a look at the first pic... That is ONE plant!

[drew225]

Exactly! Take a look at the first pic... That is ONE plant!

I did some LST a few weeks ago but I didn't have the room to tie all the side down so I did 1 side and I already have another pretty large stem that looks like it might be another main. Just tied the other side down and I also did 1 of my younger plants so ill put up some pics later!

[XXXJAYXXX]

One thing I have found, its rather interesting actually.. is that the plants actually seem to KNOW which brach is highest on the plant, when I do my LST, I start by bending the top as far down as I can get it without breaking the stem.. if the main stem is small enough.. it should bend quite easily without breaking.. after 24hrs.. I come back and all the side branches that were sticking out every which way.. will have all turned straight up towards the light (Its VERY cool to see this happen!) At this point you want to start paying attention to the growing tips on each branch.. the tip that is closest to the light will automatically become the "new" top of the plant.. and that branch will grow quicker than all the others.. the trick is to try and bend them so that they ALL stay as close to the same height as possible.. You basically want the actual top (or "Main Stem") to be at the same height as all the other "tops" on the plant.. this will allow for a more uniformed growth of the plant.. and will help spread the bud production evenly to all the branches.. The highest bud on the plant always gets the biggest.. so if you keep the branches at the same height (meaning distance from the light... not actual length of branch) the plant acts as if every branch on the plant is the "top" branch.. Its VERY interesting to see the difference in the way the plants grow when you use this technique!

[Weezard]

The more you know, the mo betta you grow.

Look up "Auxin". :D

Enjoy
W.